I See The Light
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Short SQ oneshot based off 'I See The Light' from Tangled. Set after 4x10 and the Shattered Sight curse. Emma and Regina realise something in the wake of the cure.


_A short SQ oneshot based on I See The Light from Tangled. Set after 4x10. I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes. Hope you all enjoy :) _

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><p><em>And it's like the fog has lifted<em>

_And at last I see the light_

_And it's like the sky is new_

_And it's warm and real and bright_

_And the world has somehow shifted_

_All at once everything is different_

_Now that I see you_

The glass clears from people's vision as snow begins to fill the sky and float down through the streets of Storybrooke. Emma walks through the town eager to find her family and make sure they're okay. She thinks of her parents, her son and of Regina. The last one was a surprise. She didn't realise until the curse had struck, she needed someone she could trust, someone who has strong feelings for her – the opposite of love, under the curse that is.

Her first thought was of Regina.

Regina who under the curse first thought of her, who hated her and wanted to destroy her. The curse made them turn on the ones they care for but for Emma, even though it was dangerous and she tells herself she needed Regina to take away the ribbons, a part of wanted to make sure Regina was okay. She couldn't quite believe in the curse until she saw Regina's eyes staring at her with cool, black hatred.

It was in that moment that she realised why she had gone to Regina. She thought of the way Regina usually looks at her and how much it made her heart ache to lose that, to lose the warm fluttery feeling in her gut when Regina stares at her.

_Love_.

For a moment she chuckles wondering if there's some kind of irony in the fact that a curse meant to inspire hatred and anger instead made her see her life in a new light. A wonderful, real and bright light in the form of Regina.

She just hopes Regina's hate was the curse and not how she truly feels.

Emma smiles as she practically floats through the town. It's funny how life can change in a day. Yesterday she was dating Hook and pretending to be happy, trying to find something even though something was wrong, has always been wrong. Now her heart skips with real love, with a blinding clarity and her feet guide her through the town to her loved ones.

She hugs her parents and her son and then she looks up seeing Regina.

Regina hugs Henry and watches him embrace his blonde mother before looking up and finally meeting Emma's gaze. Once she awoke from the curse she had loved with Snow before realising a truth she had never seen before.

Her first thought was of Emma.

Not of Robin but Emma.

_Perhaps I was looking for love in all the wrong places_ she thinks as she reflects on how this curse brought her a new clarity. Emma came to her under the curse to take away those ribbons. Emma was counting on her pure hatred, the opposite of her pure love. She wonders if Emma came to the same conclusion that she did, that in spite of trying with other people and being blind to their happy endings they still found a way to care about each other, to fight for the other's happiness.

She wonders if Emma could possibly feel the same way.

She looks up and her eyes connect with Emma's and there it is again. Clarity. The fog of the curse is lifting and as people deal with the aftermath two woman find a new light, a life they could never have imagined possible.

Emma smiles as she stares into eyes she knows so well. Her heart flutters in her chest as she sees the emotions in wide vivid brown eyes. The Evil Queen looked at her with such venom it made her blood run cold. Not Regina. Regina's eyes are filled with a tentative home, warmth and dare Emma believe it, love?

Regina smiles back as the small smile lights up Emma's face and instantly sets her at ease. Something about Emma always reassures her. She feared Emma would be wary of her after seeing her as the Evil Queen, that she would regard her with the same fear and suspicion that others used to.

From the look in Emma's eyes that fear is unfounded and it sends a rush of hope through Regina. She steps forward tentatively moving closer to Emma, "Are you okay?" she asks, concern lacing her tone as she looks over the blonde for any sign of injury.

"I'm okay," Emma replies, "Are you?"

Regina nods, "More than."

They fall into silence, sharing a quiet moment in amidst the chaos of their town. Others are trying to sort out the ramifications of things said in the curse and Emma needs to as well, "Regina, I never wanted to break your heart. I wanted to make you angry and my first instinct was to make you jealous?"

"Why?" Regina asks curiously.

Emma shrugs, "I've seen how you are around Hook and in Neverland. I think, a part of me, wanted you to be jealous."

"You did?"

"I did," Emma confesses.

Regina smiles, "I was and it wasn't the curse. Not just the curse anyway," she admits before looking deep into bright blue eyes that could captivate her for months and years on end, "You were the first person I thought of Emma and then we woke up and I realised you were the last person I'd ever want to turn on or hurt, aside from Henry of course. With him my true love is that of a mother for her son. With you, however I think it's the kind of love that magic is made of."

Emma grins brightly, "I think so too. Even if we were so blind to it for far too long?"

Regina chuckles, "Who'd have thought a curse of shattered sight would be the thing to make us see the light?

Emma laughs too before closing the miniscule gap between them. She places her lips against Regina's in a gentle kiss at first before Regina responds, sliding her hands around Emma's waist as she kisses back, both of them succumbing to the incredible feeling of the curse. In that moment they don't care what finally made them see the light, all that matters is that they have and in that beautiful moment their worlds have somehow changed forever because they know that they have a forever to be together now, to be happy with the person their hearts choose.

Emma pulls back with a grin before asking "How's your sight?" as she gazes into the warm caramel eyes she never knew she would miss so much until they were gone.

Regina smiles, their noses touching as they hold each other's gaze. She moves her head ever so slightly capturing Emma's lips in a soft, sweet kiss, "It's never been better," she replies, feeling so glad for what the curse has brought them. It nearly tore them all apart but in its aftermath it made her see the light, and god it's one she'll never tire of seeing.

_Thanks for reading :) _


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